1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to casino gaming devices, and more particularly, to a system and method for facilitating and rewarding team play of such gaming devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
The recent proliferation of casino gambling institutions in non-traditional locations such as Native-American reservations, riverboats, and cruise ships has placed significant competitive pressure on casinos in more traditional locations such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City to attract and retain customers. Moreover, in most traditional gambling locales, there exist a substantial number of casinos which compete head-to-head for the same group of gamblers. For example, the Las Vegas strip alone has over thirty casinos in direct competition with one another. Thus, the competition to draw players into a particular casino and have them return again has become an extremely difficult task for casino owners.
Increasingly, casinos are offering incentives in an effort to attract customers and retain them over time. For example, progressive slot machines featuring relatively large progressive jackpots have been employed to entice players into casinos. However, these machines pay out infrequently and are becoming commonplace. Consequently, they are becoming less attractive to many players. Moreover, since progressive jackpots are found in most casinos, they do not encourage players to choose one casino over another.
Casinos have also formed player slot clubs as a method of attracting and retaining customers. Such slot clubs operate to enroll players and allow them to earn reward points for gambling activity. Reward points may be exchanged for lodging, food or other services offered at a casino. Often, however, a player may join several slot clubs and become associated with a number of casinos. Consequently, for some players, the incentive to visit a particular casino no longer exists, rendering the present casino slot club format ineffective for its intended purpose.
In looking for new ways to attract and retain customers, casinos have sought to improve the experience of slot machine play by implementing systems for creating a group play format, so as to attract greater numbers of customers into a casino. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,700 to Celona describes a system for splitting a progressive jackpot amongst multiple players of linked gaming machines when a player at one machine hits the progressive winning combination. By splitting the jackpot amongst the players, the system creates the semblance of group play, thereby enhancing the gambling experience for some players. However, aside from the fact that the players are linked by a group of machines, the group aspect of the game is quite passive, and does not increase a player's loyalty to a particular casino.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,076 to Pease et al. describes a progressive gaming system in which multiple casinos or other groupings are coupled to a central system, and the central system provides each casino or group with a predetermined number of chances at a prize for each buy-in, i.e., each multiple of a predetermined amount of contribution to the prize or jackpot. If a prize is awarded as a result of such a buy-in, the casino or group randomly splits the prize amongst the players who are actively playing in that casino or group. Thus, it is possible for a player to win a progressive jackpot even though that player is not present in the casino in which the winning gaming device is located. However, since the Pease et al. system is configured to select a winner at random, the players are unable to influence the outcome of a game or the distribution of the award amongst the members of the group.
Pease et al. also discloses a system for tracking the activity of a group of players to facilitate the random distribution of a prize. Player tracking, as the name indicates, involves tracking individual player usage of gaming devices. In prior art player tracking systems, the player is issued a player identification card which has encoded thereon a player identification number that uniquely identifies the player. The individual gaming devices are fitted with a card reader, into which the player inserts a player-tracking card prior to playing the associated game.
By tracking individual players, usage can be monitored, allowing gaming establishments to target individual players with direct marketing techniques such as bonuses or rewards. U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,882 to Acres et al. describes a prior art player tracking system which facilitates communication between a network of gaming devices to provide a variety of promotional bonuses such as multiple jackpot bonuses, mystery jackpot bonuses, progressive jackpot bonuses, or player specific bonuses.
Consequently, despite recent attempts in the prior art to attract groups of players to casinos by creating a group playing environment, the systems presently in place do not enable the members of a group to influence or direct the distribution of a winning jackpot amongst the group members. Thus, the allure of such systems is relatively small.